Xiaomi launched two new budget phones in India today under the “Redmi” brand named Redmi Y3 & Redmi 7. The latter launched in China last month whereas it was the global first launch for the Y3. Both phones come at a starting price under Rs 10,000 & have their unique features. The Y3, however, seems overpriced at Rs 9,999 since you can get a Redmi Note 7 at the same price.
REDMI Y3
Starting with the Y3, the phone looks similar to the Redmi Note 7 and Note 7 Pro (Typical Xiaomi). So, there is a vertical dual camera setup on the rear, a rear-facing fingerprint scanner, a dot-notch on the front & a big bottom chin. The phone doesn’t have a glass back like the Note 7 and Note 7 Pro. The back panel shows 146 vertical stripes, refracted from different angles to provide a distinct spectrum hue. Xiaomi calls it an Aura Prism Design.
The display on the front is a 6.26-inch HD+ panel with a resolution of 1520×720 pixels & 86.83% screen-to-body ratio. There is Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top which is something we don’t often see on phones under Rs 10,000.
Under the hood, there is Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor which is a 14nm octa-core chip clocked at 1.8GHz. For graphics processing, there is Adreno 506 GPU & the phone comes with 3/4GB RAM along with 32/64GB storage.
Coming to the cameras, the Redmi Y3 has two on the rear. There is a primary 12MP f/2.2 camera with 1.25-micron pixel size & a secondary 2MP depth sensor. Rear camera features include HDR, Low Light Enhancement, AI Portrait Mode, AI Beautify 4.0, AI Scene Detection etc.
The highlight of the Y3, however, is the front camera. It is probably the first phone under Rs 10,000 to have a 32 Megapixel front camera. It has an f/2.25 aperture lens & 0.8-micron pixel size. There is EIS for the front camera.
Underneath, the Y3 has a 4,000mAh battery that supports 10W charging (5V/2A). Unlike the Redmi Note 7, it doesn’t have a Type-C port which is weird since both the phones have the same starting price of Rs 9,999.
The Redmi Y3 comes in three colors – Prime Black, Elegant Blue, and Bold Red. The price starts at Rs 9,999 for the 3GB + 32GB variant & goes up to Rs 11,999 for the 4GB + 64GB variant.
REDMI 7
The Redmi 7, as mentioned in the beginning, launched in China last month and so we already know everything about it. The design isn’t any different from the Y3 but you can distinguish the two phones from the rear panel. The Y3 has an Aura Prism Design whereas the Redmi 7 has a gradient design. Rest of the design is the same i.e., a vertical dual camera setup, Dot-Notch on the front, a big bottom chin, micro USB port & a rear-facing fingerprint scanner.
There is a 6.26-inch HD+ display on the front with a resolution of 1520×720 pixels & 19:9 aspect ratio. The processor under the hood is the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 as the Redmi Y3. It comes with 2/3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. It is good to see Xiaomi not going for a 16GB storage option with 2GB RAM as that’s something we see with a lot of phones in the budget segment.
There is a 4,000mAh battery that supports 10W charging. On the rear, the Redmi 7 has dual cameras & the setup remains the same as Redmi Y3. So, there is a primary 12MP f/2.2 camera and a secondary 2MP depth sensor. Things change on the front since there is an 8MP f/2.0 camera.
The Redmi 7 comes in three color options – Comet Blue, Lunar Red, and Eclipse Black. The price starts at Rs 7,999 for the 2GB + 32GB variant & goes up to Rs 8,999 for the 3GB + 32GB variant.
The Redmi Y3 will be available starting April 30 on Amazon India, Mi.com & Mi Home Stores. The Redmi 7, on the other hand, will be available from April 29.